Penetration Mechanism of Suction Bucket Foundation in Laboratory Model Test

Suction bucket foundation is being considered as an efficient alternative to the conventional foundation in offshore wind energy farm with deep sea condition. Since the penetration of the bucket foundation is achieved by both self-weight and applied suction, the construction generally does not require heavy equipment for penetration. Therefore, its installation is considerably quick and no hammering noise. There have been many studies on capacity of bucket foundation against vertical, horizontal and moment load. However, there have been very few studies on penetration behavior of bucket foundation. This paper presents experimental results to assess the penetration mechanism of bucket foundation in sand. In these tests, the bucket is penetrated by suction pressure or physically pushing force to provide data on the penetration resistance.